Ellington

Calling Memphis country-rockers Lucero restless might be an understatement. Over the past two years, the group has logged almost 400 live shows. Despite a commitment to touring that would spell musical suicide for most groups, the band has also managed to record and release two records in just over a year. "It's always nice going home for a bit, but after you've been there for a bit, it's like 'What am I doing here?'," says Lucero vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Ben Nichols after apologizing for sounding a bit sluggish due to a "late evening" the previous night.

Nichols is speaking on a cell phone from Lucero's tour van as he and his three bandmates are leaving Boulder, Colo., for a Denver show, before snaking their way down to Texas and eventually back to Memphis.

While some musicians seem to crack somewhere between the nonstop country crisscrossing in a rental van and the equally incessant recording sessions, surprisingly, Lucero appears to have developed nearly every facet of their craft.

Though Lucero is a country band at heart, they take all the glitzy country music kitsch you see on CMT, douse it in kerosene and burn it. They play country music that would make Johnny Cash smile from his newfound haunts up above. Despite the fact that they are most easily—and perhaps appropriately—linked to the alt-country movement, that's an association Nichols shies away from.

"I'm getting better with understanding which direction the band needs to be going in. We are walking this fine line between indie rock and country. Making it all work together and be cohesive is sometimes tough," Nichols says.

With their latest release, "That Much Further West," Lucero sheds the aggressive roots rock—a la The Replacements—that characterizes their previous release, "Tennessee," and brandishes a rawer twang more in tune with an emotive country sound.

But when Nichols speaks over the phone, it's more like listening to a punk rocker talk. His inexhaustible honesty pervades not just his lyrics and conversation, but his everyday conversation, which explains why the band has, since its inception, been popular among punk and hardcore crowds.

"I've never recorded a record I've been 100 percent satisfied with. Nothing is for sure with us. But I have tried getting better with each record," Nichols says with a sincerity most artists would never dream of employing, certainly not in the first few weeks their record has been released.

After having Cody Dickinson of the North Mississppi Allstars at the helm of their first two albums, Lucero opted to produce their latest record themselves. For an added level of comfort, the band chose to record the album in their rehearsal space and shared home, an old warehouse where Elvis used to take karate lessons.

"Having recorded a lot of demo stuff, we knew we wanted it to be relaxed, almost like you are recording four-track demos. That explains why we chose to record the album in our own practice space," Nichols says.

New York indie label Tiger Style got word of Lucero through an old friend who helped put out the band's first release and immediately agreed to release the new album. As the band burgeons from a regional hit to a national one, Nichols is not about to abandon the band's trademark earnestness.

"You hear of a lot of people who get a little taste of popularity and get a big head. And I know we aren't a big band, but if it ever got that way, we'll still be who we are. We'll still keep playing shows just like we do now. That is something I can guarantee," he says.